At the attic office of the famous book seller, Bahrisons,
Khan Market, New Delhi, I see a man in his mid forties, wearing a black linen
jacket speaking to the owner of the bookstall, who while declining an
invitation for an evening drink with the man in black, saying that he has just
come from Mumbai after an important and hectic meeting. I have heard it right
because Mr.Bahri has been talking to the man in black linen jacket about young
people who are not corrupted by too much of knowledge becoming quick learners
in any profession. The man in black in obviously impressed by the way Mr.Bahri
said it. It is then he extended this invitation to Mr.Bahri for a drink,
because he apparently has found the scope of a book ‘in there’. I presume that
the man in black is an author. Crisp and sharp in his talk, yet polite and
humble in demeanour that comes naturally to people who are really successful,
the man in black linen coat evokes a sort of familiarity in me though I see his
profile of his face lined by a size one French beard. Mr.Bahri tells him like a
British uncle coming from hunting would tell a young suitor, “Well, your linen
jacket is nice.” The man in black linen jacket beams with happiness and he says
that he has written about it in his ‘book’. I have been silent for quite some
time, eavesdropping in their conversation and now it is time for me to pitch in
with a question. I ask the man whether he is by any chance Mr.James Joseph, who
has written about jackfruits. He says yes with a face where both pride and
humility fights for supremacy. I introduce myself and the Malayali connection
is too obvious to ignore. James Joseph signs his book, ‘God’s Own Office’ for
me and he hands me over his visiting card. It is the first book which I have
got signed by an author in a bookstall.
I had written about airport bookshops that thrust certain
precious books into our hands without asking. A week ago, I had seen ‘God’s Own
Office’ in a bookstall at Hyderabad airport. The title obviously rang in two
titles or catch phrases; God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and Kerala
Tourism’s tagline, ‘God’s own country.’ I knew for sure that ‘God’s own Office’
was about Kerala and the name of the author sounded a bit unfamiliar. I picked
up the book, read the blurb and felt good about it. Somehow I was not too
interested to read the book as I had read too many success stories. But the
jackfruit angle attracted me and I did my mental bookmarking. I literally
weighed two books in my hands; Ruskin Bond’s ‘Love among the Bookshelves’ and
James Joseph’s ‘God’s own Office.’ I did
know why I chose Bond finally. I chose Ruskin Bond because it had some
beautiful reminiscences about the author’s foray into the ‘act’ of reading. I
find it always fascinating how famous writers select their reading materials.
Unlike the Facebook links that show off ‘ten books that you must read’ or ‘ten
books the famous people have read’ or ‘suggest ten books of your liking’, such
innocent remembrance of books that are closer to a successful and widely read
author’s heart is always a welcoming change. I could finish that book within
two hours of flight to Delhi though I did not crave to read more Ruskin Bond
after that. James Joseph was in my mind and as providence wished so, when I hit
the Bahri books stall in Delhi, the author was already there, as if waiting for
me to come in.’
‘God’s own Office’ is a successful corporate leader’s guidebook
or manual to the ones who are interested to become a global business leader. However,
it is a few notches higher than a feel good book or a self help book or even
those books come to adore book shelves only because they mix up Zen and
(Amartya) Sen (spirituality and economics). ‘GOFFICE’ is an alternative name
that I want to give this book, mainly because shortening of it into ‘G-O-O’
would sound a bit uncouth in the larger Hindi parlance. ‘Goffice’ could stand
in for God’s own Office. ‘Goffice’ simply means that an office operated solely
from one’s own home. As home is a god given place (for most of the people), one
could set up an office at home and work from there. That’s what exactly James
Joseph did after working for a few small corporate houses and then in the
corporate giant, Microsoft. James Joseph, after graduating from Trivandrum
Engineering College, followed his heart that got mirrored to him by a Times of
India article, went on to study Engineering Business Management in Warwick in
Britain. He worked for a few small industrial groups before migrating to the
United States. He became the Director of Executive Management at Microsoft and
almost did his whole operations from his Goffice at Aluva near Kochi.
James Joseph did not come to earth with a silver spoon in
his mouth. Born to a middle class family, Joseph lost his mother when he was
too young to understand that loss. His father survived two accidents to give
his kids proper education. Joseph knew what hardship meant and when in college
itself he understood the need for ‘Bha-rati’ and ‘Dhan-rati’ (love for
knowledge/light and love for money). As he progressed in his professional life
he realized that both are inseparable in most of the cases. He wanted to fall
in love with Bharati but without Dhanrati the former could not have lasted. But
soon he realized that the older generations got their progress in life through
following knowledge and the present global generation got its progress through
following both money and knowledge, though not in its exclusive and purest of
forms. Keeping these two notions in mind, Joseph worked hard to become a global
leader and in the meanwhile he found out the taste of jackfruit.
Though jackfruit is shown as the central theme of the book,
James Joseph does not follow that trail to satisfactory effects. Joseph
realizes the fact that the jackfruit at his backyard could turn him into a
successful entrepreneur if he could make it available ‘fresh’ throughout the
year. With meticulous planning and implementation of technology, Joseph
invented a frozen variety of jackfruit which tasted as fresh as from the
backyard, using his technological know-how and managerial skills. Today Joseph
is a successful entrepreneur in Jackfruit products, apart from being a
consultant for start ups and a global leader of his own merit. He achieved all
these laurels by working from his Goffice at Aluva, Kochi in Kerala.
Part reminiscent and part manual for success, Joseph
intersperses personal anecdotes with management and entrepreneurial tips
throughout the book. He does not shy away from saying that he was very bad at
English and he got confidence in handling it properly when he realized that his
European classmates at Warwick were worst than him in using language. He shone
in public speaking when he could slowly shed his inhibitions. James became a
motivational teacher for many of his colleagues and young start ups. Joseph
touchingly weaves in the stories of his marriage with a European girl (arranged
marriage) and his relentless efforts to get a medical practitioner’s licence for
her in India though she is a qualified medical doctor. He with sympathy and
perseverance reveals the pitfalls in the bureaucratic approach of Indian
officials. Joseph speaks volumes about his village, his love for nature,
interest in organic farming and narrates a few acts of philanthropy. Goffice is
a very interesting read, though at times I feel that I cannot be this perfect
and meticulous like James Joseph in my daily acts. In my madness and
melancholy, I tend to goof up things and appear as a failure therefore devilish
before many but in the case of James Joseph he could establish a working heaven
on earth, in God’s own country itself and could almost reach the perfection of
the divine. However, I am sure the author also must be feeling his own oops
moments and secretly enjoying his devilish flaws.
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